Unfortunately I haven't had the time I would like to play. Patch 2.3 has me breaking into otherwise scheduled time to get some game time.
My initial reaction . . . positive. I like the interface changes. I like that even non-human quest givers have the (now) ubiquitous exclamation point. And you can see quest givers on the mini-map? That rocks!
I haven't seen any of the downside hunter issues . . . probably because I'm only at lvl 40.
Another thing that I'm liking . . . ? The drop in exp needed per lvl and the increase of exp per quest. I feel like I'm leveling pre 30 again. Fast levels. I admit, without shame, that I am an immediate gratification junkie.
Oh, and I rolled another alt, surprise, surprise. At least I'm staying on the same server.
But then I read the Resto4Life blog today. From the picture displayed, it looks like they may be physically located close to me. If that's the case, I may see about starting a toon on their server and, when they will have me, joining their guild.
I have been missing much of the social aspect of the game. I do like playing with my bro, but he is in Japan and most of that guild is located in Australia. It is hard to sync with them other than on Friday or Saturday nights.
The people that brought me into the game no longer play. I miss the joy of working together with people I know and like already. The reason I am on my other server is due to my finding out that one of my coworkers plays. He was in his mid thirties when I rolled, so we still don't play much together.
Anyway. . . those are my musings for now.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Dust in the wind . . . .
The title for this post was the winner between two options. My other choice was "The times, they are a changin".
If anyone is actually reading this blog, you'll have noticed a couple of things.
First, I haven't posted in a great while.
Second, some of my toons are missing from the side bar.
While I don't have a good reason for the first, the second is something I can, and feel I have to, explain.
I finally hit the point when I was stretched too thin. I did that which I thought I would never do. . . I deleted toons. I cleaned off the toons that I knew I would never play again. I cleaned off toons from servers that I really just didn't enjoy playing on.
I am now playing on Llane, because that is where my brother plays, and Arygos. I am, for now, exclusively Alliance.
I will update as I go.
If anyone is actually reading this blog, you'll have noticed a couple of things.
First, I haven't posted in a great while.
Second, some of my toons are missing from the side bar.
While I don't have a good reason for the first, the second is something I can, and feel I have to, explain.
I finally hit the point when I was stretched too thin. I did that which I thought I would never do. . . I deleted toons. I cleaned off the toons that I knew I would never play again. I cleaned off toons from servers that I really just didn't enjoy playing on.
I am now playing on Llane, because that is where my brother plays, and Arygos. I am, for now, exclusively Alliance.
I will update as I go.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
DINGS!
Last night NoHuntardI dinged 34. And I have a new toon. I am trying a warrior again. Her name is Rubigale on Llane. She ding'd 11 last night too.
I had a 30 hunter (orc) on Dethwing but I just can't get into playing him. Big challenge is that Dethwing is a PVP server and I kept getting jumped by Allis in the contested areas. Sucks because I just wanted to level.
Why was I on a PVP server? The people that I started playing on were playing on that server. Being a relative newb to MMOs, I didn't understand what PvP or PvE were. I had an idea about what RP was going to be. That turned out to be different too.
My brother mocks my choosing a warrior. "Why would anyone want to be a meat shield?" he asks. I dunno. Probably goes back to playing D&D back in the day. I loved warriors, barbarians, and monks. Yes, I said monks. I would love it if WoW added a monk class. There was just something about running around basically defenceless and unarmed. Or so those poor fools thought, when in reality you have a bichin AC and great attacks. And don't get me started on "Quivering Palm." One-shotting just by hitting someone with your bare hands - d@mn.
Oh, NoHun and Elfbane joined guilds. NoHun joined MOD on Llane. He's about the only toon there at that level who isn't the alt of several 70s. Should be fun. Elfbane on Earthen Ring joined Alea Iacta Est. I may write more about that later because this was my first guild with another toon. I loved playing with AIE. The atmosphere there now is different. Even the people I used to play with aren't the same. I'll ponder this and then write more.
I had a 30 hunter (orc) on Dethwing but I just can't get into playing him. Big challenge is that Dethwing is a PVP server and I kept getting jumped by Allis in the contested areas. Sucks because I just wanted to level.
Why was I on a PVP server? The people that I started playing on were playing on that server. Being a relative newb to MMOs, I didn't understand what PvP or PvE were. I had an idea about what RP was going to be. That turned out to be different too.
My brother mocks my choosing a warrior. "Why would anyone want to be a meat shield?" he asks. I dunno. Probably goes back to playing D&D back in the day. I loved warriors, barbarians, and monks. Yes, I said monks. I would love it if WoW added a monk class. There was just something about running around basically defenceless and unarmed. Or so those poor fools thought, when in reality you have a bichin AC and great attacks. And don't get me started on "Quivering Palm." One-shotting just by hitting someone with your bare hands - d@mn.
Oh, NoHun and Elfbane joined guilds. NoHun joined MOD on Llane. He's about the only toon there at that level who isn't the alt of several 70s. Should be fun. Elfbane on Earthen Ring joined Alea Iacta Est. I may write more about that later because this was my first guild with another toon. I loved playing with AIE. The atmosphere there now is different. Even the people I used to play with aren't the same. I'll ponder this and then write more.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Wife Aggro and How to Handle It
Recently BRK posted about how to resolve wife aggro. This has become a serious issue in my family. My issue may even be a bit more extreme than BRK's questioner.
My wife cannot make the leap that my playing WoW is on the par with her playing POGO and reading romance novels. She has never liked the fact that I am a gamer but was more tolerant of my playing non-MMO games. I have always enjoyed RTS games and have occasionally dabbled in the FPS realm. I think the big difference is that, with other genres, I was always able to quit on a dime and help with whatever she needed or focus on whatever she wanted. With MMO's I can only do that 90% of the time. I have a hard time explaining that when I am in a party, and especially in an instance, I feel have an unwritten contract with those with whom I am playing. I have committed that I will help them and feel compelled to stick it through to the end - or until we wipe, at the earliest.
Keep in mind that my highest level toon was a level toon is at lvl 40.
Part of the issue arises from the fact that I play on game cards. As I approach the end of game card play time I tend to play more, trying to get the most out of my potential play time. I moved to game cards because it freaked my wife out that I was spending $15 a month to play a game that I already spent money on. Remember, this is my first MMO. The fact that I gave up one lunch a week to cover the cost did not seem to mollify her.
So now I buy game cards every two months. That way she doesn't see the outflow.
Maybe I should use the Disneyland season pass analogy. Up until about a month ago we lived in Southern California. We have five children. This means that we go to Disneyland. When we did the math, it made sense for us to get season passes. After we got them they became even more valuable. If you have ever been to Disneyland at a peak time, you will realize how miserable it is. One of the funniest phrases we heard at peak times came from parents threatening their kids. The threats were along the lines of "be good or we'll leave." Laughable because most people spend hundreds of dollars just to get to and then into the park. Very few people are willing to spend that kind of money just to leave. They never do and the kids pick up on it quickly.
Enter the season pass holder family. If the kids start acting up, you leave. You can do this because you can come back the next day, or the next, or the next, and on and on. This gives the threat validity.
The other thing it does is when you show up and the park is just wall-to-wall, you just leave. You don't feel bad - except for the poor souls that will feel obligated to stay just because they have invested so much just to be there.
The monthly subscription does the same thing. If I don't get to play today or if I only have 15 minutes to play and then I have to log - no big deal. I can come back the next day, or the next day or . . . well, you get the idea. When I am on game cards, I don't feel the pressure until it gets down to the last couple of days. Then I spend way more time than I should because I don't know when I'll get a new card.
That is where I was this week. Game card was running out and I hadn't purchased a new one. I prefer to shop around because I can often get them right at the subscription price after taxes. I really hate paying more than the subscription price. I found one place that would put me on an auto-ship and it would end up being the same price as the subscription, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it.
This is what real estate between Rock and Hard Place is like.
My wife cannot make the leap that my playing WoW is on the par with her playing POGO and reading romance novels. She has never liked the fact that I am a gamer but was more tolerant of my playing non-MMO games. I have always enjoyed RTS games and have occasionally dabbled in the FPS realm. I think the big difference is that, with other genres, I was always able to quit on a dime and help with whatever she needed or focus on whatever she wanted. With MMO's I can only do that 90% of the time. I have a hard time explaining that when I am in a party, and especially in an instance, I feel have an unwritten contract with those with whom I am playing. I have committed that I will help them and feel compelled to stick it through to the end - or until we wipe, at the earliest.
Keep in mind that my highest level toon was a level toon is at lvl 40.
Part of the issue arises from the fact that I play on game cards. As I approach the end of game card play time I tend to play more, trying to get the most out of my potential play time. I moved to game cards because it freaked my wife out that I was spending $15 a month to play a game that I already spent money on. Remember, this is my first MMO. The fact that I gave up one lunch a week to cover the cost did not seem to mollify her.
So now I buy game cards every two months. That way she doesn't see the outflow.
Maybe I should use the Disneyland season pass analogy. Up until about a month ago we lived in Southern California. We have five children. This means that we go to Disneyland. When we did the math, it made sense for us to get season passes. After we got them they became even more valuable. If you have ever been to Disneyland at a peak time, you will realize how miserable it is. One of the funniest phrases we heard at peak times came from parents threatening their kids. The threats were along the lines of "be good or we'll leave." Laughable because most people spend hundreds of dollars just to get to and then into the park. Very few people are willing to spend that kind of money just to leave. They never do and the kids pick up on it quickly.
Enter the season pass holder family. If the kids start acting up, you leave. You can do this because you can come back the next day, or the next, or the next, and on and on. This gives the threat validity.
The other thing it does is when you show up and the park is just wall-to-wall, you just leave. You don't feel bad - except for the poor souls that will feel obligated to stay just because they have invested so much just to be there.
The monthly subscription does the same thing. If I don't get to play today or if I only have 15 minutes to play and then I have to log - no big deal. I can come back the next day, or the next day or . . . well, you get the idea. When I am on game cards, I don't feel the pressure until it gets down to the last couple of days. Then I spend way more time than I should because I don't know when I'll get a new card.
That is where I was this week. Game card was running out and I hadn't purchased a new one. I prefer to shop around because I can often get them right at the subscription price after taxes. I really hate paying more than the subscription price. I found one place that would put me on an auto-ship and it would end up being the same price as the subscription, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it.
This is what real estate between Rock and Hard Place is like.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Gnomer
Went on my first Gnomer run today. Had a mage that got pissy because someone made a mistake. Looting was set at "free for all". Rather than ask about it and work through it, he quit and ran. Didn't hurt us as we had a 60 Pally running us through. After he left, I asked about the looting and the party leader (as much a noob as I) didn't know about the settings or party loot etiquette.
I didn't get all my quests done, but that's OK. There are a couple of guys in MOD that are leveling new toons and they want to make the run. It will be interesting to see the difference between a run with a PUG and a guild run.
I didn't get all my quests done, but that's OK. There are a couple of guys in MOD that are leveling new toons and they want to make the run. It will be interesting to see the difference between a run with a PUG and a guild run.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Cleansing
Today I went through the toons on the various servers on which I play and culled those toons that I just don't "feel".
As I have said, I am a self-proclaimed alt-aholic. That doesn't mean that I fall in love with every toon I have. The upside - I stripped down every toon I deleted before I deleted them, vendored the soulbound and crap stuff and mailed the remaining gold and useful items to the toons I am keeping. I haven't been back on to see how much actually got sent, but I am down to about eight toons or so. I would be down to fewer, but I am unwilling to delete the final toon on a server because I just cant get rid of all their gear and gold - I have to give it to someone. And I seldom know anyone well enough to give them everything I worked for on a server.
_______
On another note - I finally am using Vent. I can't see how I lived without it.
I also just joined my brother's guild on Llane - MOD. I am excited to be playing more closely with him.
As I have said, I am a self-proclaimed alt-aholic. That doesn't mean that I fall in love with every toon I have. The upside - I stripped down every toon I deleted before I deleted them, vendored the soulbound and crap stuff and mailed the remaining gold and useful items to the toons I am keeping. I haven't been back on to see how much actually got sent, but I am down to about eight toons or so. I would be down to fewer, but I am unwilling to delete the final toon on a server because I just cant get rid of all their gear and gold - I have to give it to someone. And I seldom know anyone well enough to give them everything I worked for on a server.
_______
On another note - I finally am using Vent. I can't see how I lived without it.
I also just joined my brother's guild on Llane - MOD. I am excited to be playing more closely with him.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Out of the Stone Age
Flintstones, mEEEt the Flintstones . . . .
I am leaving the stone age today. I finally broke down and bought a headset w/ mic so I can see what this whole Vent thing is about that you kiddies have been going on and on about.
My brother finally talked me into getting the headphones - a mere $20 and I'm good to go. I'll be trying them on for size tonight.
I am leaving the stone age today. I finally broke down and bought a headset w/ mic so I can see what this whole Vent thing is about that you kiddies have been going on and on about.
My brother finally talked me into getting the headphones - a mere $20 and I'm good to go. I'll be trying them on for size tonight.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Post-patch Blues
Can I just say that I hate patch day? Especially when there is a major patch. Mostly the pain revolves around add-ons. More so yesterday than usual.
Why, you ask? Because about a month ago I started using the MazzleUI. For alt-aholics like me, this is a great package. It gives me everything I want, for all my different toons. And it is eminently (and easily) configurable. I can even use add ons that I prefer (auctioneer instead of whatever gumpy AH addon Mazz uses)
Patch day is not a happy day, though. Things just don't work right. I imagine it may even be a few days before things are tweaked to work correctly.
What did I do last night? I spent a couple of hours setting up an alternate Interface/Addons folder so that i could function.
I sure hope that Mazz gets his stuff together soon. As I was linking to the site, it says that it isn't available right now. I sure hope that this is a good sign.
Why, you ask? Because about a month ago I started using the MazzleUI. For alt-aholics like me, this is a great package. It gives me everything I want, for all my different toons. And it is eminently (and easily) configurable. I can even use add ons that I prefer (auctioneer instead of whatever gumpy AH addon Mazz uses)
Patch day is not a happy day, though. Things just don't work right. I imagine it may even be a few days before things are tweaked to work correctly.
What did I do last night? I spent a couple of hours setting up an alternate Interface/Addons folder so that i could function.
I sure hope that Mazz gets his stuff together soon. As I was linking to the site, it says that it isn't available right now. I sure hope that this is a good sign.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Non-focused playing
Last night was an interesting playing session. I looked at the quests Nohuntardi had and thought "I really don't want to do any of those right now." So I logged. I started looking at my alts. Nope - nothing there I wanna do either. Looked around at RL and realized that there wasn't anything I really wanted to do there at the moment.
What to do?
The answer: non-focused playing.
Earlier in the day I was reading one of the many WOW blogs about someone who had gotten into pet milling. (my phrase not theirs) (and I apologize that I can't give credit to the blogger, I just don't remember which blog and I read a CRAPLOAD of blogs yesterday - slow work day)
One of the pets mentioned was to be found by doing the chicken dance in front of chickens in Westfall.
What the heck.
So I re-logged on to Nohuntardi and away we flew.
Can I tell you what kind of idiot I felt like there dancing in front of that chicken as toons ten levels below me ran by - MOCKING ME?
Finally that damn chicken looked at me quizzically. Did I click on it and read the quest? NO - I'd already read the WOWHEAD entry - I knew what I was doing. I had that chicken feed on my actionbar ready to click.
Did you know that you can regain heath from eating chicken feed? Well you can IF YOU NEED ANY HEALTH! Which I didn't.
So, it's back to clucking away. I pull my head out enough to finish the quest, get the egg and now. . . well you have one noble dwarven hunter running around with a killer cat and a . . . chicken.
Did I mention that the only reason I did the quest is because I gathered from the blog I had read earlier that they were in great demand by hordies and that you could sell them at the neutral AH?
Nope. SOULBOUND. I almost cried.
So there I am noble dwarven hunter, killer cat, and their pet chicken.
That's what you get from non-focused play.
What to do?
The answer: non-focused playing.
Earlier in the day I was reading one of the many WOW blogs about someone who had gotten into pet milling. (my phrase not theirs) (and I apologize that I can't give credit to the blogger, I just don't remember which blog and I read a CRAPLOAD of blogs yesterday - slow work day)
One of the pets mentioned was to be found by doing the chicken dance in front of chickens in Westfall.
What the heck.
So I re-logged on to Nohuntardi and away we flew.
Can I tell you what kind of idiot I felt like there dancing in front of that chicken as toons ten levels below me ran by - MOCKING ME?
Finally that damn chicken looked at me quizzically. Did I click on it and read the quest? NO - I'd already read the WOWHEAD entry - I knew what I was doing. I had that chicken feed on my actionbar ready to click.
Did you know that you can regain heath from eating chicken feed? Well you can IF YOU NEED ANY HEALTH! Which I didn't.
So, it's back to clucking away. I pull my head out enough to finish the quest, get the egg and now. . . well you have one noble dwarven hunter running around with a killer cat and a . . . chicken.
Did I mention that the only reason I did the quest is because I gathered from the blog I had read earlier that they were in great demand by hordies and that you could sell them at the neutral AH?
Nope. SOULBOUND. I almost cried.
So there I am noble dwarven hunter, killer cat, and their pet chicken.
That's what you get from non-focused play.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Hello World
This is my World of Warcraft blog.
I am one of many who has been inspired to write by the ubiquitous BigRedKitty.
So, why me? What do I bring to the table. I dunno. The one thing I see is that most of the warcraft bloggers have high level toons and have been playing for, oh, I dunno, forever?
I am a n00b (or nub or newb). I have been looking for information on how to play at the level I am playing and to push me to be a better player. BRK has been a great resource for this. The challenge is that most bloggers (naturally) write about what's going on currently in their game play.
While I would rather READ about what people are doing at my level, since I can't find much being written there, I will WRITE about what I am doing at my level.
I hope that someone finds this useful. If nothing else, my mind works better when I am analyzing what I do, so I'm hoping that writing will also improve my game play.
I am also an alt-aholic. I have several toons on several servers. I play them based on:
I am one of many who has been inspired to write by the ubiquitous BigRedKitty.
So, why me? What do I bring to the table. I dunno. The one thing I see is that most of the warcraft bloggers have high level toons and have been playing for, oh, I dunno, forever?
I am a n00b (or nub or newb). I have been looking for information on how to play at the level I am playing and to push me to be a better player. BRK has been a great resource for this. The challenge is that most bloggers (naturally) write about what's going on currently in their game play.
While I would rather READ about what people are doing at my level, since I can't find much being written there, I will WRITE about what I am doing at my level.
I hope that someone finds this useful. If nothing else, my mind works better when I am analyzing what I do, so I'm hoping that writing will also improve my game play.
I am also an alt-aholic. I have several toons on several servers. I play them based on:
- My mood at the time (Hordish vs Goody goody; Hunterish, Shamanish, Druidish, Priestish . . . well, you get the picture)
- Whether I want to be social or not. My Hunters give me a chance to solo play when I'm wanting some alone time
- Who is online.
I am in a couple of good guilds. I was in Alea Iacta Est on Earthen Ring (great guild) until I had to take some time off (that whole work, school, family, life thing) I got /gkicked because I didn't play for a month and a half. A guild's gotta have her standards. I haven't really played the toon that was in the guild since I have started playing again so I haven't even tried to get back in.
My brother lives in Japan. In game chat is about the only way we stay in touch. He's been playing since launch and so is great on giving tips and such. He is the one that got me to cross the line and start playing (gasp) Alliance.
Anyway. There is probably a lot more to cover and this hasn't been the most coherent of ramblings. I imagine that I'll get better as I write more. That's usually how skills work.
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